Exporting the Bomb: Technology Transfer and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Addressing the question of why states provide nuclear assistance to nonnuclear states and contribute to the international spread of weapons, Kroenig (government, Georgetown U.) challenges the conventional idea that countries help others develop nuclear weapons and export nuclear materials and technology for economic reasons, arguing that they export these materials when it would have the effect of constraining a common enemy. He considers causes and consequences in cases such as France's nuclear assistance to Israel from 1959 to 1965, and the US efforts to thwart Israel's nuclear development; the Soviet Union's transfers to China from 1958 to 1960; China's nuclear aid to Pakistan in the 1980s; and Pakistan's transfers to Iran, Libya, and North Korea, with the help of nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, from 1987 to 2002. He illustrates that the spread of nuclear weapons is bad for power-projecting states and may be good for non-power-projecting states. Material originated in work he performed as a military analyst in the US government. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)